Here are some things to understand, and it will make watching more fun.
People say the sprint stage (flat section) is boring.... but if you look closely, there's a fascinating battle going on.
The green jersey leader Pedersen and his team Lidl-Trek -
From their point of view, if Philipsen takes 70 points, it means losing the green jersey. So Lidl-Trek tries to break away throughout the race. They attack from the peloton. They'll do anything to prevent a sprint finish. Pedersen is a sprinter, but he hasn't been able to beat the pure sprinters in bunch sprints. Captain America Quincy Simmons, Skelmose, and Pedersen all try to break away in the last 5km.
Meanwhile, the sprinter teams (Alpecin-Deceuninck, Soudal-QuickStep, Deceuninck-Alpecin) can't tolerate these breaks. If a break happens, there won't be a sprint finish. They have to catch them, but who? My wife's weight before marriage, Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep). Usually, he hunts for KOM points and GC tolerance in the mountains (he even ate Mont Ventoux last year), a small anchovy climber who, despite his small stature, caught several breaks on the flat sections and neutralized Pedersen's green jersey break, ultimately leading to a final sprint finish.
In the final sprint, Alpecin set up a proper lead-out train. Even the commentators said it was over. But Jasper Stuyven (Jasper Stuyven) of Soudal-QuickStep (Merlier's lead-out man) grabbed onto Alpecin's tail and took Merlier to the front. Here, his experience shines. If he left Alpecin's train alone, there would be no chance. He had to break it up. Looking at Alpecin's train, Van der Poel couldn't see well because of the riders in front. Stuyven used this to launch a sprint from far away. Van der Poel, watching from the right, was completely fooled and pushed Planckaert aside as he chased after him. Alpecin's mighty train was shattered, and Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep), who had been lurking behind, overtook Philipsen for a hat trick!
If you just watched it, you might think Merlier won because of his strong kick, but if you look closer, Soudal's team managed the race perfectly throughout the stage. Of course, Merlier's positioning, timing, and restraint in not rushing at the crucial moment were amazing.
Just one more thing... Alpecin's Philipsen, who is unpopular in our country, was treated unfairly in the intermediate green jersey points, and he received a relegation (a heavy penalty) yesterday. He must have been under a lot of stress... Congratulations to Pedersen for blocking the road at the intermediate green point, and congratulations to Merlier for overtaking him at the finish line. Good character. If only he could ride straight when sprinting ㅎㅎ
There are other strange stories about gaps, penalties, and penalty withdrawals, but that would make this too long ㅋ
